DENVER: This is basically Peyton Manning's offense, which means they take what opponents give them when it comes to the running game. Offensive line coach Dave Magazu has brought zone blocking back to Denver, even if it's not to the extent that it was during the Mike Shanahan heyday. Rookie Montee Ball should lead the committee, as he's their best runner and an effective pass protector; there's no such thing as a 'running down' with Manning. It will essentially be a hot hand situation between Knowshon Moreno and Ronnie Hillman for the rest of the snaps.
Manning is essentially doing the same thing he did in Indianapolis. It's a lot of pre-snap adjustments and, because of his deteriorating arm strength, more quick hitters. Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker will work on the outside as receiver 1 and 1A. They'll go to a three-receiver base with Wes Welker coming in, and the former Patriot will likely take over as Manning's No. 1 target. Joel Dreessen is more of a blocking tight end, though he does see a few safety-valve targets. Jacob Tamme's playing time figures to drop with Welker's arrival. The Broncos remained a balanced team in the red zone, mostly because opponents often kept extra defensive backs on the field against Manning.
The Broncos tied the NFL lead with 52 sacks in their first year under DC Jack Del Rio in 2012, but departed with DE Elvis Dumervil (11 sacks) due to an agent fax machine error. However, OLB Von Miller (18.5 sacks) remains along with versatile OLB Wesley Woodyard (117 tackles). The addition of playmaking CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (16 INT, 4 TD in career) helps make up for losing CB Tracy Porter, and future Hall-of-Famer CB Champ Bailey is still playing at a high level. Having the NFL's easiest schedule also helps a lot.

SAN DIEGO: New head coach Mike McCoy oversaw more of a one-cut running scheme in Denver, but he'll probably adapt to the power personnel he has. He rotated a stable of backs with the Broncos, and it looks like a similar situation in San Diego. The perennially disappointing Ryan Mathews will take the bulk of the early down reps, but he'll be spelled early and often. Danny Woodhead will take most passing downs and get some take-what-they-give-you runs when teams send out extra defensive backs. Ronnie Brown's only real value is as a pass protector, and Le'Ron McClain will be primarily a lead blocker again.
McCoy and new offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt both have a background based more in the vertical passing game, so the Chargers air attack shouldn't change much. Philip Rivers is at his best getting the ball deep up the seam, and Danario Alexander and Malcom Floyd should continue to see a lot of work there. McCoy plans on being more creative with Antonio Gates, who will continue to line up in a number of spots as a flex tight end. They will likely use either Eddie Royal or rookie Keenan Allen in the slot, though Rivers doesn't use slot receivers much. McCoy and Whisenhunt historically like to keep the ball on the ground in the red zone, and Mathews should get goal-line carries.
The Chargers had seven defensive touchdowns last year, but in effort to generate more pressure (two sacks or less in 11 games in 2012), DE Dwight Freeney (107.5 career sacks) was signed. Bigger sack numbers are also expected from third-year pro DE Corey Liuget (7 sacks). But having the NFL's second-easiest schedule, plus adding shutdown CB Derek Cox and rookie LB Manti Te'o to incumbent standouts FS Eric Weddle and ILB Donald Butler makes defensive coordinator John Pagano's 3-4 scheme one to respect.

San Diego coach Mike McCoy will get to see several familiar faces when Denver visits the Chargers on Sunday.

The former Broncos offensive coordinator, however, won't see his old boss.

With John Fox recovering from heart surgery, Denver looks to keep rolling with defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio at the helm against a Chargers team trying to regroup from a discouraging loss.

Fox was hospitalized last Saturday after feeling light-headed while playing golf during the Broncos' bye week. Two days later, he had his aortic valve replaced, an open-chest procedure which will likely cause him to miss several weeks.

"We all wish him a speedy recovery," Del Rio said. "The best way that we could honor him is to go out and play great football."

The Broncos (7-1) played plenty of great football over the first half of the season.

Denver is averaging an NFL-best 42.9 points - 12.9 better than No. 2 Chicago - and is on pace to shatter the NFL record of 589 points (2007 Patriots). Not surprisingly, Peyton Manning is also putting up eye-popping numbers. His 2,919 yards and 29 touchdown passes are on pace to break the current records of 5,476 yards (Drew Brees, 2011) and 50 TDs (Tom Brady, 2007).

Wes Welker leads Denver with 50 catches and nine touchdowns, Demaryius Thomas has a team-best 685 receiving yards followed by Eric Decker with 669, and tight end Julius Thomas has eight TD receptions.

"I'm not going to say it's as easy as it looks," Demaryius Thomas said. "The main part is, everyone needs to be on the same page. You've got to have everyone on the field knowing what they're doing all the time."

Having a veteran like Manning running the offense should certainly help the Broncos with Fox recovering, and the players aren't expecting anything to change with Del Rio in charge.

"Nothing changes," wide receiver Andre Caldwell said. "It's just a different co-pilot. It's just a different guy saying the same words."

Del Rio is well-versed with the responsibilities of a head coach after spending nearly nine seasons in that role in Jacksonville before joining Fox's staff last year.

"This is coach Fox's team," Del Rio said. "I'm merely the person that's able to keep it running right now while he's healing."

Keeping the team running efficiently could be difficult, as Del Rio inherits a team opening a difficult stretch. The Broncos, who haven't played since a 45-21 win over Washington on Oct. 27, have two matchups with undefeated Kansas City around a road game against AFC East-leading New England in the coming three weeks.

Denver first turns its attention to a San Diego team eager to get back on the field after last Sunday's 30-24 overtime loss at Washington.

The Chargers (4-4) had a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 21 seconds to go in regulation, but after an unsuccessful run and two incomplete passes, they had to settle for a game-tying field goal. They never got the ball again as the Redskins scored a touchdown on the first possession in overtime.

"Every loss is hard to get over. It feels like you die," center Nick Hardwick told the Chargers' official website. "But we have to get over it quickly. We need to get a good week of work in and get ready to play Denver and play our best game of football to date."

McCoy, in his first season running the Chargers after four years in Denver, faced plenty of scrutiny for the questionable play calls by offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt in the waning moments against Washington.

"I'm not questioning what we did. We're not questioning that," McCoy said. "This is a team game. It's the San Diego Chargers' organization. And I'm not questioning any of the calls. We did what we thought was best to win the football game and we're moving on."

Aside from failing to get in the end zone from the 1-yard line, there were many reasons why San Diego lost. The Chargers allowed the Redskins to convert 12 of 17 third-down attempts and rack up 500 yards of offense, bad signs with Manning coming to town.

The Broncos won both meetings with the Chargers last season, and Manning had three touchdowns passes in each. In Denver's last trip to San Diego, Manning rallied the Broncos from a 24-0 halftime deficit for a 35-24 victory.

McCoy's coaching stock rose after he found ways to win with Tim Tebow in 2011 and then reworked the offense for Manning last season.

He has now helped revive Philip Rivers' career.

Rivers is completing an NFL-best 72.2 percent of his passes, just ahead of Manning's mark of 71.2, and his 106.5 passer rating is third-best in the league.

He'll be going up against a defense that is allowing an average of 27.3 points but is tied for the league lead with 13 interceptions. Rivers threw six picks in the two games against Denver in 2012.

It might help Rivers if San Diego's offense shows better balance. He threw 46 passes last week while the Chargers had a season-low 16 rushing attempts for 69 yards despite the game being close throughout. Ryan Mathews finished with 34 yards on seven carries after consecutive 100-yard games - both victories - during which he totaled 43 of San Diego's 77 rushes.